Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth School Board has decided to look at cutting at least one teaching job at the middle school, and possible elimination of poorly attended extra-curricular activities, to deal with a state funding shortfall.
Board members expressed their frustration at cuts in state funding at a budget workshop Tuesday night. Board member Jim Rowe said he would vote against the budget in protest of the state’s acts, even though he thinks the expenses in the budget are responsible and should not be cut further. Another suggested town residents should make their voices heard in Augusta.
“The residents of Cape Elizabeth need to get off their fat and happy rear ends,” said board member Kevin Sweeney.
The school district had been looking at a $589,598 reduction in state funds, but $142,000 is expected to be restored by the state, though the figures were not final as of press time.
Superintendent Tom Forcella said there is not much more to cut in the budget. “(Cutting) anything else would have a significant impact,” he said.
He warned of the danger of delaying planned expenses, such as classroom furniture replacements. “At some point we’re going to have to pay,” Forcella
said.
The next step could be staff cuts. The board was reluctant to revise its policy on class sizes, but may reassess staffing needs for classes that are below the
numbers in the policy.
“We have no choice but to have a very conservative budget this year,” said board member Marie Prager, suggesting the district administration look at what impact cutting a teacher at the middle school would have on the classroom experience.
Board Chairman George Entwistle warned, “Class size is not something that you determine when you’re doing a budget,” but said that a stricter adherence to the class size policy could be a way to keep costs down.
Forcella said one fifth-grade teaching position has been questioned since the beginning of the budget process.
Sweeney, who has been requesting a lot of information from Forcella about the possible impact of special education staff cuts, said he does not see room for reductions in that area, especially with what he sees as a lack of professional development support for special education teachers.
“We have not spent a dime of our professional development money on our goal of reaching all students,” Sweeney said.
He also said he was reluctant to cut staff if he didn’t have to. “Given the choice of anything and a teacher, the teacher wins hands down,” Sweeney said.
Board member Susan Steinman asked if there was room to cut the stipends for school staff involved with extra-curricular activities.
Entwistle said the people are paid for the work they do. Forcella said it might be possible to eliminate some activities that have low participation.
Activity fees also were discussed, with the board requesting a public hearing be held on the issue. No hearing date was set.
If introduced, the fees would be there for the long term, rather than a quick funding fix in a tight budget year, Prager said. Most members of the board expressed their philosophical objections to the fees, seeing them as barriers to participation in valuable activities.
“The community is a better community because these programs are available to the kids,” Steinman said.
Rowe raised the issue of fiscal responsibility. “Sometimes you can’t afford to continue things that you have been doing,” he said. He expressed disappointment with the state legislators who represent Cape Elizabeth, for voting for a budget that was projected to significantly cut funding to Cape schools.
“We’re in a mess right now,” Rowe said. He said he would vote against the budget not as a protest against the expense side of the budget but to protest the revenue side, in which state funds were decreased significantly.
Other board members agreed with Rowe that the state funds were unsatisfactory, but didn’t see that voting against the budget would make that statement effectively.
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Cape speeding tickets add up
Published in the Current
If everyone who has received a traffic ticket in Cape Elizabeth this year pled guilty and paid the fines, the money heading into state coffers would be $5,907.
Of that, Cape residents would pay $3,792, or 64 percent.
The town does not get any of the money from traffic tickets, according to Town Manager Michael McGovern.
The Violations Bureau in Lewiston collects the ticket money, and a spokeswoman there said nearly all of the money collected goes into the state’s general fund.
Two-thirds of Cape’s traffic tickets are for speeding, according to police records. Other summonses are issued for offenses like driving without a current inspection sticker, failure to register a motor vehicle and failure to produce insurance.
Traffic stops occur most often on the town’s major roads, including Route 77, Mitchell Road, Spurwink Avenue, Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road. And the police watch certain areas.
“There’s regular spots that we have problems with continuously,” said Police Chief Neil Williams. “We try to concentrate on residential areas.”
But the fact that there are only so many officers on duty at once means most of the stops happen while they’re just driving around town.
The cars are equipped with moving radar, which means police can check your speed without having to stop their own cars.
“It makes us mobile,” Williams said.
The town has problems with speeding especially during spring and when school starts again, but there are always people driving too fast, Williams said.
Nobody really knows what towns are the toughest on speeders. The Violations Bureau does not compile statistics of which towns send in the most tickets or the largest number of fines. The Maine State Police said they have no idea.
At the Scarborough Police Department, they asked around the office and came up with Saco and Biddeford as tough towns. But the Biddeford Police Chief was surprised to hear it. He did say his patrol cars have front and rear radar that can catch speeders ahead of or behind a police car.
A web site called the Speed Trap Exchange (speedtrap.org) lists user submissions identifying Falmouth, Yarmouth and Oakland, near Waterville, as towns not to speed in.
Most Cape Elizabeth ticket recipients reached by the Current did not want to talk about it. “Why would I do that?” asked one Cape man when he was asked if he would speak about his ticket.
But Jeff Curran of Mitchell Road is a ticket recipient who was willing to talk. He got pulled over for speeding on Route 77 in February. Curran has lived in town all his life and has a landscaping business that takes him all over town with his truck and trailer.
“I almost feel I have the right (to speed), but I know I don’t,” he said. Part of it comes from familiarity with the surroundings.
“Most people that live here know the streets,” Curran said. But he knows people complain on residential roads, where houses are closer to the street.
And part of the urge to speed comes from seeing other drivers. “I know all the cops. I see them going fast too,” Curran said.
But traffic has increased in town, and that means speed limits have to be more strictly enforced. “Now that there’s more traffic, you have to slow the traffic down,” Curran said.
If everyone who has received a traffic ticket in Cape Elizabeth this year pled guilty and paid the fines, the money heading into state coffers would be $5,907.
Of that, Cape residents would pay $3,792, or 64 percent.
The town does not get any of the money from traffic tickets, according to Town Manager Michael McGovern.
The Violations Bureau in Lewiston collects the ticket money, and a spokeswoman there said nearly all of the money collected goes into the state’s general fund.
Two-thirds of Cape’s traffic tickets are for speeding, according to police records. Other summonses are issued for offenses like driving without a current inspection sticker, failure to register a motor vehicle and failure to produce insurance.
Traffic stops occur most often on the town’s major roads, including Route 77, Mitchell Road, Spurwink Avenue, Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road. And the police watch certain areas.
“There’s regular spots that we have problems with continuously,” said Police Chief Neil Williams. “We try to concentrate on residential areas.”
But the fact that there are only so many officers on duty at once means most of the stops happen while they’re just driving around town.
The cars are equipped with moving radar, which means police can check your speed without having to stop their own cars.
“It makes us mobile,” Williams said.
The town has problems with speeding especially during spring and when school starts again, but there are always people driving too fast, Williams said.
Nobody really knows what towns are the toughest on speeders. The Violations Bureau does not compile statistics of which towns send in the most tickets or the largest number of fines. The Maine State Police said they have no idea.
At the Scarborough Police Department, they asked around the office and came up with Saco and Biddeford as tough towns. But the Biddeford Police Chief was surprised to hear it. He did say his patrol cars have front and rear radar that can catch speeders ahead of or behind a police car.
A web site called the Speed Trap Exchange (speedtrap.org) lists user submissions identifying Falmouth, Yarmouth and Oakland, near Waterville, as towns not to speed in.
Most Cape Elizabeth ticket recipients reached by the Current did not want to talk about it. “Why would I do that?” asked one Cape man when he was asked if he would speak about his ticket.
But Jeff Curran of Mitchell Road is a ticket recipient who was willing to talk. He got pulled over for speeding on Route 77 in February. Curran has lived in town all his life and has a landscaping business that takes him all over town with his truck and trailer.
“I almost feel I have the right (to speed), but I know I don’t,” he said. Part of it comes from familiarity with the surroundings.
“Most people that live here know the streets,” Curran said. But he knows people complain on residential roads, where houses are closer to the street.
And part of the urge to speed comes from seeing other drivers. “I know all the cops. I see them going fast too,” Curran said.
But traffic has increased in town, and that means speed limits have to be more strictly enforced. “Now that there’s more traffic, you have to slow the traffic down,” Curran said.
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
N.H. PUC opens copper to ISPs
Published in Interface Tech News
CONCORD, N.H. ‹ Bringing closure to a three-year-old controversy, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission has ordered Concord-based Verizon New Hampshire to provide so-called "dry copper loops" to the state's Internet Service Providers on a trial basis.
The case arose in 1999 as a result of telephone network congestion that prevented residential phone customers from dialing 911 in an emergency. The cause for the congestion, which appears to no longer be a problem, was believed to be increased use of dial-up Internet connections.
One proposed solution to the congestion was giving ISPs access to copper circuitry already installed throughout the state, over which they could deliver high-speed Internet service off the telephone network.
The state's ISPs are happy about the development, with Brian Susnock, president of the Nashua-based Destek Networking Group, trumpeting "a landmark decision" that is "a major turning point" in the abilities of ISPs to offer high-speed Internet accesss at low prices.
"We're very excited about it," said Jeff Gore, CEO of Londonderry-based FCG Networks. Gore said he expects to participate in the trial as soon as it begins.
The new product will be part of a revision to the Verizon's existing Series 1000 tariff, governing BANA or alarm circuits, which currently cost $32 per month. Susnock said he hopes the dry copper offering will cost less.
CONCORD, N.H. ‹ Bringing closure to a three-year-old controversy, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission has ordered Concord-based Verizon New Hampshire to provide so-called "dry copper loops" to the state's Internet Service Providers on a trial basis.
The case arose in 1999 as a result of telephone network congestion that prevented residential phone customers from dialing 911 in an emergency. The cause for the congestion, which appears to no longer be a problem, was believed to be increased use of dial-up Internet connections.
One proposed solution to the congestion was giving ISPs access to copper circuitry already installed throughout the state, over which they could deliver high-speed Internet service off the telephone network.
The state's ISPs are happy about the development, with Brian Susnock, president of the Nashua-based Destek Networking Group, trumpeting "a landmark decision" that is "a major turning point" in the abilities of ISPs to offer high-speed Internet accesss at low prices.
"We're very excited about it," said Jeff Gore, CEO of Londonderry-based FCG Networks. Gore said he expects to participate in the trial as soon as it begins.
The new product will be part of a revision to the Verizon's existing Series 1000 tariff, governing BANA or alarm circuits, which currently cost $32 per month. Susnock said he hopes the dry copper offering will cost less.
Monday, March 25, 2002
Cerylion draws investors, eyes customers
Published in Interface Tech News
WOBURN, Mass. ‹ Surpassing its own expectations for second-round fund-raising, Cerylion raised $7.6 million ‹ $2.5 million more than it had projected ‹ from investors supporting its development of what the company calls "personal Web services" for wireless communications networks.
The new funding will be used to increase marketing efforts and continue research and development, according to company CEO Ilan Rozenblat. The company's R&D section is primarily in Israel, where Rozenblat got his start in the technology sector.
The basic thrust of the company's services are connections between specific events and activities. The company's example is that booking a flight could trigger automatic rental-car and hotel reservations and e-mail notes to people at the destination asking for meetings.
Cerylion's major customer prospects are mobile telephone companies, but the company has only one major customer at present, Africana.com, an AOL-TimeWarner subsidiary based in southern Louisiana.
Rozenblat said the company is hoping for an "upsell" to other AOL-TimeWarner companies, and is also targeting Verizon Wireless in the tier-one range of mobile services companies. But most of the prospects, he said, are tier-two, in keeping with the company's philosophy of moving in small steps.
"We are building a sustained business for the long run," Rozenblat said.
The challenge, according to Delphi Group senior analyst Larry Hawes, is two-fold. The space is ill-defined, Hawes said, and may be heading in another technological direction: wireless Web services.
"Web services is quickly becoming more accepted," Hawes said. That makes Cerylion's technology harder to sell, even though Hawes thinks it is actually better at relating objects to each other.
Hawes said the company primarily needs customers, and needs to expand its growth beyond the word-of-mouth means it has relied on so far.
With an early-March launch of a new version of its suite, and with the additional capital injection, the company said it is ready to take on the marketing challenge.
WOBURN, Mass. ‹ Surpassing its own expectations for second-round fund-raising, Cerylion raised $7.6 million ‹ $2.5 million more than it had projected ‹ from investors supporting its development of what the company calls "personal Web services" for wireless communications networks.
The new funding will be used to increase marketing efforts and continue research and development, according to company CEO Ilan Rozenblat. The company's R&D section is primarily in Israel, where Rozenblat got his start in the technology sector.
The basic thrust of the company's services are connections between specific events and activities. The company's example is that booking a flight could trigger automatic rental-car and hotel reservations and e-mail notes to people at the destination asking for meetings.
Cerylion's major customer prospects are mobile telephone companies, but the company has only one major customer at present, Africana.com, an AOL-TimeWarner subsidiary based in southern Louisiana.
Rozenblat said the company is hoping for an "upsell" to other AOL-TimeWarner companies, and is also targeting Verizon Wireless in the tier-one range of mobile services companies. But most of the prospects, he said, are tier-two, in keeping with the company's philosophy of moving in small steps.
"We are building a sustained business for the long run," Rozenblat said.
The challenge, according to Delphi Group senior analyst Larry Hawes, is two-fold. The space is ill-defined, Hawes said, and may be heading in another technological direction: wireless Web services.
"Web services is quickly becoming more accepted," Hawes said. That makes Cerylion's technology harder to sell, even though Hawes thinks it is actually better at relating objects to each other.
Hawes said the company primarily needs customers, and needs to expand its growth beyond the word-of-mouth means it has relied on so far.
With an early-March launch of a new version of its suite, and with the additional capital injection, the company said it is ready to take on the marketing challenge.
Thursday, March 21, 2002
Planning board approves Cape community center
Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board unanimously approved the plans for the town’s new community center, adding three minor conditions to its approval.
The community center will be in the old Pond Cove Millworks property on Route 77 in the town center.
The site plan, developed by Oest Associates and SMRT, both Portland architecture firms, needs only small revisions, according to a review by the Planning Board Tuesday night.
The main concern of the board were the light fixtures in the parking lot that will be created just south of the community center building. On the original plan, they were similar to the ones at the high school parking lot.
The board, especially member Andy Charles, wanted them to be more like the lighting along Route 77 in the town center. The lights there are not as tall and therefore spread light over less area. To compensate for the change to shorter lights, the parking lot will require about six additional light fixtures, which would cost between $5,000 and $10,000 more.
Charles was concerned about the progressive improvement of the lighting around the school area, which he said was one of the most highly trafficked areas in town.
Board member John Ciraldo said he felt parking lot lights could be different from the town center lights.
Board Chairman David Griffin said he, too, wanted to see the nicer light fixtures. “I certainly would like to see the continuation of that style of fixture if I could,” he said.
Town Manager Michael McGovern said the town, acting as the applicant in this case, would do what it could to make the board happy as long as approval of the community center happened at the meeting and was not delayed. McGovern said bids already were coming in and action was needed.
Board member Karen Lowell suggested that the lights be upgraded, but proposed a trade to help pay for them, which became the second condition of the project approval.
The plan called for a small grassy island in the parking lot to the north of the community center, where school buses now are parked. The exact placement of the island within the lot had rankled Charles and board member Barbara Schenkel.
Charles wanted to move the island slightly, to be closer to the specifications in the town’s ordinances.
Schenkel said that even the moving of the island would not bring the parking lot up to code, and suggested the lot be treated as an existing condition and exempted from requirements to install any island.
Lowell proposed that the island be omitted and the money saved from that part be applied to the lighting upgrade.
In response to a question from the board about whether the project’s bid could be changed, McGovern said bids had already been accepted, but had not yet been awarded. He said negotiation on smaller issues could take place with bidding companies.
The third condition was proposed by Patty Flynn, representing SMRT. At the last meeting, it had been noticed that the site plan contained a small clerical error indicating where azaleas would be planted along the main walkway into the front of the building. Flynn said the error would be corrected in a final site plan.
In other business, the board:
Delayed further discussion of the Blueberry Ridge development until April 22, at the request of developer Joseph Frustaci.
Approved a request by Romeo’s Pizza owner Dimitrios Mihos to relocate the propane tanks behind his building. The original location was legal, but would have become illegal upon installation of a cooling unit, which Mihos plans to do within the next few months. The new location of the tank will still be behind the building, and will have appropriate concrete shielding to prevent cars from colliding with the 1,000-gallon tank. Mihos also said the pizza restaurant is expected to open in late May.
The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board unanimously approved the plans for the town’s new community center, adding three minor conditions to its approval.
The community center will be in the old Pond Cove Millworks property on Route 77 in the town center.
The site plan, developed by Oest Associates and SMRT, both Portland architecture firms, needs only small revisions, according to a review by the Planning Board Tuesday night.
The main concern of the board were the light fixtures in the parking lot that will be created just south of the community center building. On the original plan, they were similar to the ones at the high school parking lot.
The board, especially member Andy Charles, wanted them to be more like the lighting along Route 77 in the town center. The lights there are not as tall and therefore spread light over less area. To compensate for the change to shorter lights, the parking lot will require about six additional light fixtures, which would cost between $5,000 and $10,000 more.
Charles was concerned about the progressive improvement of the lighting around the school area, which he said was one of the most highly trafficked areas in town.
Board member John Ciraldo said he felt parking lot lights could be different from the town center lights.
Board Chairman David Griffin said he, too, wanted to see the nicer light fixtures. “I certainly would like to see the continuation of that style of fixture if I could,” he said.
Town Manager Michael McGovern said the town, acting as the applicant in this case, would do what it could to make the board happy as long as approval of the community center happened at the meeting and was not delayed. McGovern said bids already were coming in and action was needed.
Board member Karen Lowell suggested that the lights be upgraded, but proposed a trade to help pay for them, which became the second condition of the project approval.
The plan called for a small grassy island in the parking lot to the north of the community center, where school buses now are parked. The exact placement of the island within the lot had rankled Charles and board member Barbara Schenkel.
Charles wanted to move the island slightly, to be closer to the specifications in the town’s ordinances.
Schenkel said that even the moving of the island would not bring the parking lot up to code, and suggested the lot be treated as an existing condition and exempted from requirements to install any island.
Lowell proposed that the island be omitted and the money saved from that part be applied to the lighting upgrade.
In response to a question from the board about whether the project’s bid could be changed, McGovern said bids had already been accepted, but had not yet been awarded. He said negotiation on smaller issues could take place with bidding companies.
The third condition was proposed by Patty Flynn, representing SMRT. At the last meeting, it had been noticed that the site plan contained a small clerical error indicating where azaleas would be planted along the main walkway into the front of the building. Flynn said the error would be corrected in a final site plan.
In other business, the board:
Delayed further discussion of the Blueberry Ridge development until April 22, at the request of developer Joseph Frustaci.
Approved a request by Romeo’s Pizza owner Dimitrios Mihos to relocate the propane tanks behind his building. The original location was legal, but would have become illegal upon installation of a cooling unit, which Mihos plans to do within the next few months. The new location of the tank will still be behind the building, and will have appropriate concrete shielding to prevent cars from colliding with the 1,000-gallon tank. Mihos also said the pizza restaurant is expected to open in late May.
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